It's a girl! The Wilds conservation center in Cumberland welcomes new baby Masai giraffe

A female Masai giraffe calf was born at The Wilds early Thursday, the 22nd of the endangered species to be born at the Cumberland, Ohio, conservation center in its history, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium announced.

"Animal management staff continues to monitor the female calf, who appears to be strong and was observed nursing from mother, Savannah," the zoo said in the written announcement. "Savannah is an experienced mother, and this calf is her seventh."

Savannah was born at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in August 2003 and has lived at The Wilds since 2004."

The calf’s father, Raha, was born at the Los Angeles Zoo in April 2006 and arrived at The Wilds from the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium in 2009, where he has since sired 11 calves, the zoo said.

The baby giraffe has not yet been named. Calves are born after a gestation period of approximately 15 months. The mother gives birth standing up, and calves can stand and run on their own within a few hours of birth.

Male giraffes can grow to be 18 feet tall at the tips of their ossicones and weigh between 1,800 and 4,300 lbs. Females are between 13 and 15 feet tall and weigh between 1,200 and 2,600 lbs. Giraffes are the tallest of all extant land-living animal species, and are the largest ruminants. 

The birth Thursday "is a significant achievement for the future of Masai giraffes," the zoo said.

In 2019, the International Union for Conservation of Nature listed the Masai giraffe as endangered, with its numbers having plummeted by nearly 50% over the last three decades. There are estimated to be only 35,000 Masai giraffes remaining in their native ranges in southern Kenya and north and central Tanzania, primarily due to habitat loss, civil unrest/military operations, poaching and ecological changes, the zoo said.

The Wilds, an almost 10,000-acre conservation center about 15 miles southeast of Zanesville, and the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, which manages The Wilds, have provided more than $172,000 over the last five years to support conservation projects benefiting giraffes in their native ranges, the zoo said.

The funds support conservation projects in giraffe range countries across Africa, "including a giraffe-specific initiative through the Hirola Conservation Programme in Kenya, Wild Nature Institute’s Serengeti Giraffe Conservation Research project based in the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, the Giraffe Research and Conservation Trust in Kenya, and the Giraffe Conservation Foundation (GCF) in Namibia and Uganda." 

“We are excited about the birth of this most recent calf and proud of the continued success of our giraffe breeding program," Dr. Joe Smith, vice president of The Wilds, said in a prepared statement.

The Wilds is currently open daily through October, and is then open for winter tours. For more information, visit thewilds.org.

wbush@gannett.com

@ReporterBush